More siege engines and equipment from Armedieval, a French company providing
historic exhibits for castles etc. Note that one site is in French only, the other in
English and French. These are not the same page and are both well worth visiting
The "Highland Fling" site shows machines from the event also worked on by Timber Framers.
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The Timber Framers Guild
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Titled "Under Siege", this is a big MUST SEE site with lots of photos of the building of a very large all-timber trebuchet - and 40kg stones thrown 200+ metres isn't too bad at all...
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Lexington Bellefortis
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The result of work by the Timber Framers and the Virginia Military Institute (with encouragement from well known siegecraft scholar Paul Cheveddan), this trebuchet is another historically-based reconstruction.
Don't be put off by the dry title "Region IV Newsletter" - the content concerning the trebuchet is some distance down the page, after a few official formalities.
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Timber Framers Guild
Highland Fling
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The Timber Framers Guild building another BIG trebuchet - this time for television in Scotland...
This event is also mentioned in the Smithsonian Magazine article on trebuchets.
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Nova
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More on the "Scottish Trebuchet Program", this one the on-line page for the Nova television program that was the reason for the machines being built. The site includes photos, some historical background on trebuchets, castles and siegecraft - and a computer game where you can assemble your trebuchet and use it to attack a castle.
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A Scud It's Not
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This is an article about Hew Kennedy's big piano, car and livestock carcass throwing trebuchet. Hew was one of the first of the modern enthusiasts to actually build a full-sized machine.
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What On Earth Is A Trebuchet?
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A page from the Oxford Stunt Factory, aka the Oxford University's extreme and dangerous sports club. It shows a number of photos of Hew Kennedy's trebuchet - some familiar, some (like the dead cow sequence) not likely to be seen elsewhere.
The cow-shaped impact crater is strangely compelling...
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Hew Kennedy and Viollett-le-Duc
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Andrew Ryan's page with pictures of Hew's trebuchet taken from Scientific American. Andrew also has a photograph of a large French machine built on Viollett-le-Duc's pattern. I once saw a picture of this beauty in an expensive book, but was too cheap to buy it! Well worth a look.
NOTE: This page is not available at the moment.
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Northern Exposure Trebuchet
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The big and impressive trebuchet used in the TV program Northern Exposure. This machine threw a log, a piano and a coffin - spectacularly.
(See Da Vinci Days for its recent life.)
The site also shows an Erector set toy trebuchet and more besides.
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A Traction Trebuchet
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In this page Sven (aka Steve Wyley) reports on the traction trebuchet experiments by the Australian re-enactment group the Vlachernai garrison of the NVG (New Varangian Guard).
This machine is of the single-upright design taken from the Chronicle of Petrus de Eboli.
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Caerlaverock Castle
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This is a page from a series reporting on the archaeological dig at Caerlaverock. As part of their display for visitors the castle has a replica trebuchet and mangonel. (It isn't mentioned whether these will take part in the scheduled 700th anniversary siege reenactment on the 8th and 9th of July 2000...)
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Computer / Mathematical
Simulations |
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Algorithmic Beauty of Trebuchets
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A fine trebuchet simulation site with many formats available.
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WinTreb
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Civil Engineering Software: A copy of Trebuchet for Windows ("Wintreb") that you can download - from the Civil Engineering Division of the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, United States Military Academy, West Point.
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Filip Radlinski's Treb simulation
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No sling in this simulation, but worth reading. How's your maths?
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The Virtual Trebuchet
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An applet-based trebuchet simulator with suggested exercises to plug into it.
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Computer simulations
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Some mathematics packages from the University of Arkansas Physics Department, including a trebuchet simulation.
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c1265
Andy Goddard's Page
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c1265 is an English 13th Century re-enactment group with a beautifully made little trebuchet. The website is well worth a look for its useful trebuchet theory and history articles. There is also a clever montage photo to create an impression of a full-scale machine.
Andy Goddard is a keen reenactor and creator of the c1265 trebuchet - one of the first on the internet.
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Siege Artillery
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Thorough designs and blueprints of siege engines, including a ballista, from "Darius Architectus" (Kurt Suleski). The page also contains a photo collection of siege engines, with smaller Roman pieces and some trebuchets.
The page of crossbows - both museum pieces and reconstructions - is well worth a visit.
This is part of the Knight's Armoury webpage.
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Catapult Museum Online
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A broad overview of all things catapultish, perhaps achieving more in breadth than in any great depth of information. A good introduction based on NZ Production's The Catapult Museum CD-ROM.
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Siege Weapons |
A page with animations and notes illustrating various siege engines, including "catapults", belfries and bombards.
NOTE: This page is not available at the moment.
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The Trebuchet
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A course outline for two lectures and a series of experiments presented to the Wachusett Regional High School Science Seminar on October 1 and October 8, 1996 in Holden, Massachusetts: "Design of Experiments" and "Response Surface Methodology" using trebuchets as the subject of the exercise.
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Non-Gunpowder Artillery
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A "Medieval Mechanical Artillery" site that contains desciptions of the types and principles of trebuchets
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Le Mangonneau
Le Trébuchet
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A nice couple of drawings of a trebuchet and a 'mangonel' with notes pointing out the slow fire-rate and large crew numbers (especially of the larger trebuchet). (Page in French)
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Catapult Pictures and Resources
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Photos and descriptions of an onager and trebuchets (one a beautiful small model with a netting sling) from Derek DeVries. Plans are promised and should be worth the wait.
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Viollett-le-Duc?
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A University of Idaho page with an interesting, though "scratchy", technical drawing - which looks like some of Viollett-le-Duc's 19th century work. (No notes, more a "statement of intent")
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Discussion, Comment
& Practical Help |
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Catapult Message Board |
Ron Toms' message board for people interested in Catapults etc. Much lively discussion, exchange of ideas and the inevitable people seeking plans..
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SCA Rialto archive |
This page, an SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) site, is an archive of news group traffic about trebuchets -both "period" and modern- over several years.
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Ken Peter
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Ken is an avid trebuchet researcher. He has a wealth of theoretical and practical information on the workings of trebuchets and how to get the most out of them. A site to see.
NOTE: This page is not available at the moment.
News Flash! Ken has acquired some web space and has placed a collection of photos of
Kip Foss's large steel trebuchet on-line. The format is plain for now, but the collection of detailed photos is worth visiting.
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Siege Engineers Today
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From Wired News, an interview with Eric Ludlam by Mark Frauenfelder as part of Wired's series on fringe subcultures… ...FRINGE...???!!
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Sproing Fever
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This is an article written by Richard E Meyer which appeared in the Los Angeles Times in June 1996. It humorously covers various trebuchet enthusiasts and their creations.
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The Thor Project Thor Project Movies.
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"It's a bird. It's a plane. I'ts a case of Spam!" - an article by Paul Kvinta from Outside magazine on the lamented Thor Project - at present on hold. This was/is a project by a pair of Texans to build a BIG trebuchet (one capable of throwing a Buick) - but in the meantime they used a moderately sized machine to check their figures and entertain the crowds by throwing bowling balls and lavatory pedestals.
On a linked page are two short .avi movies of Baby Thor - one of it being wound down and fired, the other of one of those pedestals in flight.. and then landing.
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The Buick Trebuchet
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Dave Barry's article, inspired by the Thor hurlers, gives a different and humorous perspective on hurling. This piece occasionally appears as "That's Throw Business", I believe.
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NF Observatory Trebuchet
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A small trebuchet in a nice sequence of photos taken during a launch.
This venerable website was one of the first to show a functioning model trebuchet.
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Deimos
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Interesting stories, info and photos from some DIY siege engine builders who have put together a machine capable of throwing bowling balls.. seemingly the standard US trebuchet ammunition.
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Some Experiments with Trebuchets
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Tom Bullock's page (still under construction) with some good advice and many detailed photos of his trebuchets - one a small prototype, the other a larger machine (sadly destroyed) which used a 50 kg counterweight. A section of trebuchet mathematics still being built looks to be a handy addition.
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Eric Ludlam & Team Juggernaut
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A trebuchet page with pictures of a plastic milk bottle thrower ("Juggernaut Junior"), a larger traction trebuchet ("Juggernaut"), a counterweight machine ("Juggernaut 2")and the Punkin Chunkin weighted traction machine called (what else?) "Juggernaut".
Eric also includes annotated close-up photos of construction details - pretty-nearly plans - with instructions in verse (allegedly by Dr Seuss)...
Formatting is slightly out-of-whack for IE ...sigh...
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Phoenix Company
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The Phoenix Company is a New Zealand reenactment group who have done experiments
with a trebuchet and a perrier (ie traction trebuchet). They have a fairly large
(650k) downloadable mpeg of their perrier being used.
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"Bob's Page"
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"Bob's page on catapults and siege engines"
An in-progress 'backyard' project to build a trebuchet… so far the base and uprights are reported as complete.
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"Eclectic Labyrinth"
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Part of an SCA-related site by "Alderan", this page includes plans for a small trebuchet capable of throwing wooden croquet balls approx 40 yards (~36 metres).
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"The trebuchet"
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Paul Carlisle presents his good looking backyard machine with a 4 foot
long throwing arm.
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The Realm of Taergerasmob
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The home of Andy (aka "Sithlord") and the Siege Engine Webring. Andy's site has plans and a photo of his 50% larger version of Kevin Geiselman's ("Tale of the Trebuchet") tabletop machine, plus a directory of several trebuchet plans websites graded by level of difficulty and size..
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"Mac's" Trebuchet
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A photograph of a very simple yet effective "toy" trebuchet said by the builder to have taken only 30 minutes construction time and to be capable of throwing a ping pong ball approx 40 feet (13m). Mac has promised that plans will follow...
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Anthony's Trebuchet Page
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A page with many good photos of the trebuchet built by Anthony and friends in 1998. This machine stands about 2 metres high at the axle and is pictured throwing water-balloons and computer hardware into a lake... (It's okay, they went out in a canoe to retrieve the debris)
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Taranis
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Cameron's site, showing a good-sized and nicely built trebuchet "Taranis" - a machine about 8 feet high at the axle. There are several photos, a brief glossary of trebuchet terms and a piece about Cameron's "Punkin Chunkin"..
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For Fun, Art and Education
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The Millennium Project
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The Millennium Project involves setting up a furnace to produce molten iron and a trebuchet to hurl it into the North Sea. To quote the webpage "This event celebrates the end of the age of iron and the sometimes traumatic transition to a new, unascertained age.."
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Da Vinci Days 1997
Da Vinci Days 1996
Da Vinci Days (main website)
For Sale again...
..and finds a New home...
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After Northern Exposure the big trebuchet found a new owner and a new mission – throwing household appliances and computer hardware…
Now, after pitching in with the "Da Vinci Days" celebrations, the Northern Exposure trebuchet is once again for sale - yours for a song at $2000 plus expenses (weights and base not included). ...No, sorry, it's off on its travels again..
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i Catapults
(formerly "Catapult Mania")
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This page has a collection of catapult plans of all sizes and types - including a card catapult.
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Rude Mechanicals
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This is the webpage of "Rude Mechanicals" who are, in their words, suppliers of 'Teaching Resources for Primary School Technology'. The siege engine models at the bottom of the page include a simple and attractive trebuchet.
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The Making of an SCA Trebuchet
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Notes and a plan for a gentle trebuchet used for hurling tennis balls in SCA sports combat.
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Tennessee Technological University
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Photos from their trebuchet contest.
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SCA Gulf Wars
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A Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) site with a photo of an impressive machine used for combat games. Recreational sports hurling...
NOTE: This page is not available at the moment.
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To Ride a Trebuchet
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Ron Toms writes about building and using his human-throwing trebuchet.
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Oregon Boy Scouts' Trebuchet
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Another pumpkin thrower, this time made from material available on site at a Scouts meeting. Surprisingly big.
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Team Eccentric
and Greg's Trebuchet Page
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Plans for two sizes of trebuchet (one in adobe format) plus details of a 21ft machine.
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The "PCS Edventures!"
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A series of photographs showing a moderate-sized machine launching a projectile.
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LEGO Trebuchets
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A page with several photographs of small model machines made by students using Lego. This site is by "Weird Richard", an Edventures instructor who says that he believes that you can teach anything using the plastic products.
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The BRIO Trebuchet
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A toy treb made from "Brio" construction set parts and
with a range of 30 feet.
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Tale of The Trebuchet
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A cousin of Cheesechucker from the USA which wows the kids - plus plans for two sizes of models and photos of a very light-weight traction trebuchet (and a salutary tale of flinging as part of a public event).
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The Feudal Archers
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The Feudal Archers (1135-1216) are an historic re-enactment group with an emphasis on archery, but also with a nice piece of scaled-down hand-made artillery ... a trebuchet, of course.
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Explore the Science Of Throwing Stuff
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An on-line article by Robin Lind for WebPointers about, well, this site right here...
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Steamboat Ed's Trebuchets
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"Steamboat Ed" Haas presents photos of his 3 different trebuchets, one of which is a tabletop sized model that he sells as a kit.
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Hank Hufnagel's "Scout Trebuchet"
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Hank is a scout and, with the intention of building a large machine as a group project in April 2000, has built a small working model as a 3-D "blueprint".
The site has a sequence of photos showing it firing an M&M and a page describing its construction details.
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Not Trebuchets, but...
(includes Ballista sites) |
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Catapults in Greek and Roman Antiquity
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D. Baatz provides a page of ancient projectile weaponry with descriptions, a
bibliography, contemporary representations, plus photos of archaeological finds
and 20th Century reconstructions.
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Onager Online
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Team Carbo's pumpkin-hurling competitive onager - complete with twisted rope skein power - preserving the honour of leverage artillery among the herd of monstrous pneumatic cannon...
The page includes many large photos of the onager and other people's devices, plus animated gifs and time-lapse photos of the onager firing.
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Punkin Chunkin 1999
Punkin Chunkin 1998
Punkin Chunkin 1997
Punkin Chunkin 1996
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What happens when enthusiastic Americans make a competitive sport out of throwing pumpkins. Over the years the technology has just kept getting bigger and more powerful, using pneumatic cannon, trebuchets and an onager. Last I heard the record was 4025 feet (1227 metres). It may be higher now.
The trebuchets seem to be absent from these revised pages - but the presentation is impressive. Additionally, REH appear to have overcome their formatting troubles with IE browsers (Lucky them). Look for Team Carbo's Onager.
These sites are from REH - Radical and Extreme Hobbies.
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The Spruce Moose Ballista
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"Oznog"s page of photos and plans for a good-looking and practical ballista used in SCA sports combat.
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Ballista Resources
Ken's Ballista Pages
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Pages of SCA ballista pictures, including a comprehensive view of the author's own machine, based on the Oznog design.
The site contains several mov files of SCA sports catapults and traction trebuchets in action plus a zipped file of Oznog's ballista.
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The Ermine Street Guard
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A large ballista is pictured in one of the photos of members of this superbly turned-out Roman re-enactment group.
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The Staff Sling
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The Staff Sling: Guidelines for Construction and Use. A guide to the history, use and construction of a short-pouch staff sling for SCA use.
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Books, journals and magazines
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Acta Archaeologica
vol 63 1992
Also available on-line.
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"Experimental Reconstruction of a Medieval Trebuchet"
by Peter Vemming Hansen.
This paper discusses the history of the trebuchet and aspects of its performance. It also reports on the Danish Medieval Centre's 20+ tonne reconstruction, providing diagrams showing construction details, and gives experimental results for the trials that followed.
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Smithsonian Magazine,
Jan 2000
On-line version available
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An article on the history and reconstruction of trebuchets using the "Highland fling" machines as a focus.
There is a summary of the article on-line.
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Scientific American
July 1995
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"The Trebuchet" by Chevedden, Eigenbrod, Foley and Soedel.
An article with photos of Hew Kennedy's big machine, some diagrams describing the mechanics of trebuchets and a little historic background.
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American Woodworker
December 1997
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"Trebuchet!" by me.
5 pages on how to build a toy trebuchet, with detailed plans, the text heavily rewritten by the good people at American Woodworker from the rambling prose that I gave them. This little model can throw about 70ft.
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(These are sites and resources listed elsewhere on this page. Click on a name to go to its full entry.)
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The Spruce Moose Ballista
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"Sports" ballista
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Siege Artillery
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Beautiful ballistae.
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i Catapults
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Lots of catapult plans.
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Tale of The Trebuchet
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Two toy-sized trebuchets.
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The Making of an SCA Trebuchet
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A simple treb-making guide.
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Eclectic Labyrinth
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Alderan's croquet-ball hurling machine.
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Middelaldercentret
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Middelaldercentret trebuchet paper with plans.
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Realm of Taergerasmob
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A directory of plans for machines of various sizes.
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American Woodworker
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Tabletop treb plans from American Woodworker.
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Juggernaut
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Not quite plans, but detailed annotated close-up photos that would be a valuable addition to any blueprint.
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